Hiker stranded for 6 days thought he missed only hope of rescue after helicopter passed him—a smart move changed things
If you ever find yourself stranded in the middle of nowhere, all alone, with nothing to keep you going, it is hard to keep up hope and imagine that you can make it out alive. Alec Luhn, a journalist, was dreading his way out after trying everything when he was stranded in Folgefonna National Park, Norway, ABC News reported. He tried everything to escape but with injuries, no food, no water and so much going on, it seemed like a distant luxury to be safe. After strenuous efforts, when a helicopter came his way, he thought it was the end because they had just missed him. Fortunately, he came up with a smart move that saved his life.
After failing to board a flight from Norway to England, the man decided to embark on a four-day hike to the icy mountain all by himself. Unfortunately, things went down on the first day itself. He suffered a brutal fall and slammed straight into a rock, injuring himself badly. With multiple fractures, the man knew his trip had drastically changed. From being an adventure and exploration, it soon became a quest to stay alive, per Good Morning America. "I knew I wasn't going to be able to move and get out of there and so I thought, 'Okay, well, I have to essentially make it for at least four days on this mountain so that people will realize that I'm missing,'" the man recalled.
During the fall, he’d lost most of his packed items, including food, water and his cell phone. He resorted to drinking his own urine. Fate turned around for him when it started to rain. “I really was desperate for water. I remember literally licking up every drop of water I could get,” he explained. However, things soon took a turn for the worse. The weather got bad, temperatures started to drop, and Luhn began to wonder whether he’d really survive. In the midst of it all, he held on to his life for one reason. "Just thinking about my wife, wanting to see her again, thinking about my parents and my brothers and sisters," Luhn remarked.
He called on God to work a miracle so he could see his family again and positivity began to surface. Luhn’s wife, Emmy-winning journalist Veronika Silchenko, had reported her husband missing. She last had a picture of him hiking and so there was hope that the team would find him. After six days, a helicopter made its way to the exact area where Luhn was. His worst fear began to crawl over him as the helicopter missed him moments later and went ahead. Hanging on to the last thread of hope, Luhn decided to give it all he had to be rescued.
Before the helicopter could leave from the same route, the man took a red piece of cloth, tied it to a walking pole and frantically began waving. "I was just yelling and waving. And finally, the door of [the helicopter] opens and somebody waves back at me and that was the moment I knew it was finally, finally over," he said, relieved. He was airlifted to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen and eventually recovered. "I was grateful to be alive, grateful that I was, you know, still in one piece," he remarked.
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